


Irreplaceable You

by ideallyqualia



Series: UshiShira [19]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Universe, M/M, Magical Realism, Rabbits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 07:44:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10826859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/ideallyqualia
Summary: When Shirabu is overwhelmed, he goes to pieces -- literally. It then becomes Ushijima's problem.





	Irreplaceable You

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday to one of my favorite birds. i'm kinda sad that I couldn't finish any of my longer fics in time for his bday but oh well.

Plenty of things bothered or frustrated Shirabu. Several more stressed him out. Shirabu could handle an admirable amount of pressure stretched out in any way, but school and volleyball spelled out a limit. Ushijima knew Shirabu was in that kind of situation when Semi couldn’t find him in his room. They gathered in Shirabu’s room with Tendou.

“You don’t think he…” Tendou trailed off. Ushijima stared at him without saying anything, the silence filling in.

Semi sighed. “Who’s going to go find him?”

“Not me. He _scratches_.” Tendou pointed at Ushijima. “It’s your turn, Wakatoshi.”

“He’s gone the past few times.”

“That’s because he’s the Kenjirou expert. Unless. Don’t tell me. You want to try again?”

“Of course I don’t.”

“It’s not a problem,” Ushijima said. He headed outside and started searching in the nearest patch of bushes. A bunny peered up at him.

No matter how many times Ushijima had to run around and collect Shirabu, he could never get used to handling the rabbits. They all had fur in the same shade as his hair, and each one had small eyes narrowed in his likeness, bright with the intelligence of a human. There was especially something characteristic about his eyes, undeniably him in the way he stared back at Ushijima without moving. He held himself in the same slightly stiff grace, too, sitting straight on his feet gathered beneath himself. He was still Shirabu.

That made things all the more awkward. Ushijima didn't want to think about him while holding him. Ushijima had to hold him close to his chest to keep him secure, and he was sure Shirabu could hear his heart beating. As a rabbit, Shirabu was soft and warm, and holding him so close also unraveled a feeling of vulnerability in his chest.

Shirabu never squirmed or scratched him. He usually clawed everyone else, but he remained calm with Ushijima. He wasn't big enough to flop or hang over his hands, either, cradled easily in the crook of his arm.

The point was that every one of the rabbits still had a piece of the stress that Shirabu had as a human. Each of them had to be calmed down mentally. Ushijima had already begun stroking the rabbit in his arms, softly scratching on his head between his ears. Shirabu closed his eyes.

The next rabbit sat in the middle of a cluster of flowers a few meters away, sniffing one of them. Ushijima crouched and quietly crept up to him. Maintaining two of them wasn't a big problem, but there was a chance that one of the other rabbits would run, and Ushijima couldn't run well with animals in his arms. He returned to Tendou's room.

"Can you keep an eye on them? I have to go find the rest."

Tendou leapt off his bed. "But he bit me last time!"

"Then don't tease them." Ushijima lowered himself to the floor and opened his arms, letting them hop away. One Shirabu dragged his claws on the floor and started to dig, and the other Shirabu chose to sit under Tendou's bed.

"He's going to dig a hole in the floor," Tendou complained.

Ushijima's mouth twitched.

"You want to laugh, don't you. Or at least grin. Don't do it." Tendou sat down at his desk. "Hurry, Wakatoshi."

Ushijima ran outside and all the way to the baseball field before finding another Shirabu. He was staring up at a tree, ears twitching as he watched the blossoms and leaves sway on the branches in the wind. Ushijima scooped him up with little sound, and Shirabu kicked his legs in surprise.

"Ah. Sorry," Ushijima apologized. He smoothed his hand over Shirabu's ears and patted his head.

Shirabu still grumbled and jerked his head away. He couldn't speak like this. He could only make small noises, and no one understood them.

Ushijima didn't have to go far to find another one. The next Shirabu was asleep in a patch of grass, his feet pulled into a slight curl. His eyes were closed, and his body rose and fell in deep sleep. Ushijima approached him as quietly as possible and gently nudged him into his arms. Shirabu still woke up, yawning and stretching with a quiet muffled noise. He tilted his head and blinked at Ushijima with foggy eyes that still drooped, too heavy with sleep. Ushijima covered Shirabu's eyes and fought a smile.

Ushijima dropped them off in Tendou's room, and made a few more trips until finally gathering all sixteen of them. Tendou had managed to create a makeshift pen out of containers, textbooks, and cardboard boxes taken from the recycling bins, leaving all the bunnies inside, either asleep or nibbling on the remains of a salad Tendou didn't finish.

"How are they?" Ushijima asked as he lowered the last three into the pen.

"Cranky." Tendou vaguely waved at them. "Even as bunnies."

One of them stopped and glared at him. Ushijima reached in and patted Shirabu's head, and Shirabu nudged him back, immediately closing his eyes and rising on his feet.

"He's not back to normal yet, so he still needs some time." Ushijima pulled back and rested his elbows on the edge of a piece of cardboard.

All of the other rabbits crowded around Ushijima and followed, climbing to their tallest heights and placing their paws on the boxes to get closer. Ushijima petted two of them using both hands and ruffled their fur.

"Yeah, he's nice and sweet with you, alright," Tendou said with his arms crossed, lounging and slouching backward in his desk chair.

The weight of all the rabbits pushing on the cardboard knocked it over, and they crawled over Ushijima's legs and settled on and around him. Three of them scrabbled along his shirt and tried to settle on his shoulders. Ushijima sat still and relaxed his arms to let them.

"How is he not scratching you?" Tendou asked.

"He's never scratched me."

"I don't think I believe you."

Ushijima continued to pet them all, giving them turns one by one. Some of them fell asleep. Eventually, Shirabu came back together, still asleep. Ushijima covered him with a blanket and returned him to his own room and bed.

**Author's Note:**

> (General A/N): Not looking for concrit; don't leave any.


End file.
